Toddler's face torn apart by dangerous dog

Kira Neal was at her mother's side when the fierce dog leapt on her and clamped its jaws around her face.

The 22-month-old girl screamed out in agony as one side of her face was ripped off. Shocked drinkers then tried to pull the dog away.

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Kira was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and her face was sewn up with more than 60 stitches.

Last night her mother, Sam Hallowes, 26, described the moment the dog pounced on her daughter in the garden of the Famous Old Pines pub in Bournemouth, Dorset, on Saturday at 4.10pm.

"I remember the dog was nice one minute and then it's mood completely changed," she said. "I just couldn't understand what had happened. It was completely out of the blue.

"I was in a state of shock and just froze. I remember Kira getting passed over to me and I was holding on to her as tight as I could. A dog like that shouldn't be allowed in public. I just want to see it put down and the owners banned from owning an animal again."

Miss Hallowes, from Bournemouth, was enjoying lunch with her sister and friends when Kira was attacked. The bull terrier was sitting down, tied to a lead when it suddenly went for her.

"I was aware the dog was there," she said. "It was quite small and stocky and was sat at the next table.

"Kira loves animals. We have got three cats, two rabbits and a goldfish at home and her granddad has got a dog and it never crossed my mind that something like this could ever happen."

She came within millimetres of losing her left eye, but the scars should disappear almost completely because she is so young.

The toddler's father, Philip Neal, a 25-year-old chef, said: "She has had about 60 stitches, across her nose, her lips and up to her eye, It was horrific when I looked at her, it was like something out of a horror movie."

"I must admit I've had to be strong, I've had to not show any weakness, and the second I got home that's when it all flooded out. I'm a bit tired - I've not really slept much. Other than that I'm bearing up and being strong for my daughter."

Witnesses said Kira had been playing about when the dog suddenly went for her.

After the attack, the dog's owner, a man aged in his 40s, took the dog out of the pub and was seen breaking down in tears, repeatedly saying: "I can't believe it". Police then drove the owner and the dog away in a van.

Officers said they will make further investigations and study CCTV footage of the incident before deciding whether the black and brown bull terrier will be destroyed.

The owner is helping police with their enquiries but has not been arrested.

Mr Neal added: "I just want to see justice done. She is a small child who is one and a half stone soaking wet with her boots and that is a dog that is bred for fighting, they shouldn't be allowed as pets. It just shouldn't happen."

"She never used to be frightened of dogs but I don't know how this is going to effect her."

Kim House, 26, who lives in a flat opposite the pub, saw the aftermath of the attack. She said: "The owner tied the dog up to the door handle of his car, it was a blue Mercedes.

"I saw the dog and it was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. It looked quite normal at the time. But the owner was pacing about and he was clearly very upset. He bent down and cuddled the dog. He kept saying 'I can't believe it' and he was in tears."

Kira, whose parents are separated, is expected to be allowed home from Poole Hospital later this week.

Inspector Geoff Hicks, of Bournemouth police, said: "We are still investigating exactly what happened and the process leading up to the incident.

"The dog has been seized and our investigations will determine the fate of the dog."

A spokesman for pub company Marstons, which owns the Famous Old Pines, declined to comment.

Last January Ellie Lawrenson, five, was killed when she was mauled to death by a pit bull in St Helens, Merseyside. Her death sparked a new row over dangerous dogs.